Arrigatou
by pink pearl mew
Summary: Itasaku Fanfic Summary: “Day by day he gently drove pain away from me till there was no more. I owe him my life. Thank-you…for being there…for helping me…for loving me…for everything…for being who you are…Uchiha Itachi.”
1. Chapter 1

_All Sakura could see was Naruto pierced by a blade and then falls to the ground. Still, lifeless. First Sasuke leaves her for Orochimaru and now Naruto leaves her, for good. _

Sakura sits up abruptly, breathing deeply. It was the same nightmare again, the day Naruto left her. They were returning from a mission they were all generally

tired and Sakura was particularly irritable mood…

_Flashback_

"Ne ne Sakura-Chan you okay? You don't look so well." he had been asking the same damn question for the past how many minutes? It has been so long she had

stop keeping track. "Ne Sakura-Chan why won't you answer me?" That was the final straw.

"Will you just shut up! Why don't you just go and die or something. You're annoying." with that she jumped on ahead without being her cautious self. Naruto,

on the other hand felt bad about annoying Sakura. He looked up to see if she had calmed down enough for him to apologize without getting a face full of her chakra

fists. It was then he noticed something moving in the trees and a foreign chakra. Everyone else in the group has noticed and tensed ready for an ambush while Sakura

continued to speed ahead. Naruto worried for his friend went after her, against all his instincts. The foreign chakra followed the two. The hidden nin jumped out of their

hiding place and unsheathed their sword, aiming for a shocked Sakura in one skilful movement. Naruto, not wanting to lose another one of his dear friends, jumped in

front of the blade and took the attack head on without any thought of protecting himself all he that he could think was protecting Sakura no matter what.

In a matter of seconds the blades had pierced Naruto through his chest and obscuring Sakura's vision with red.

_End of flashback_

Sakura shook her head willing herself not to remember anymore of that horrid day. The most regretful day of her life. Tears trails the contours of face making its

way down her face. Falling from her face and landing on her covers with the tiniest of a 'pat' noise. For so long she has longed to find a way to say sorry but she knew

it was useless what difference does it make he's no longer around to apologise to. The thought didn't help, it caused more tears to fight to be freed. Nothing seemed

right anymore. The days of team 7 were only memories now. No more can be created.

Since that fateful day after recovering from the shock, she closed herself up from the world afraid to hurt afraid to be hurt. She lost her natural cheery composure and

because robot-like. Everyone worries over her and tries to snap her out of it but to no avail. In fact things got worse. She subconsciously realised and her smile

became more forced than ever; she didn't care. Eventually Sakura's smile just left her,as if it was lost. She tried to keep strong, tried to remember her duties as a medic

and tried to forget. After the incident she tried to heal the group but she could not use any jutsu. The pink haired kunoichi had lost her will along with her abilities to heal.

Her platoon had suffered immensely for her uselessness. Not only did her best friend died but two other members. She had been suspended from all activities till she can

heal again. She fell into a routine. Get up, attempt to heal, become frustrated and go to the woods to spar.

A week has passed since the death of Naruto. An hour has passed since his funeral. The sky was grey and dark. It had been raining as though the sky was crying

over the death. Many attended, many held in their tears, many couldn't accept the fact that he was gone. Sakura was many. After the funeral she didn't want to go back.

Instead she headed out in the freezing rain to train.


	2. Chapter 2

After two hours of training non-stop. Sakura has exhausted herself, far past her limit.

Suddenly a foreign chakra was detected and a shadow appeared before her. The chakra was familiar; warm, powerful but sad and lonely. This was the one chakra

Sakura as a child has learnt to recognise, Sasuke. She ignored it and carried on with her training hoping that the chakra was just because he was passing by. Her prayer

was not heard. It came closer and closer to her at a rapid speed. What was she to do now? Soon enough there he was standing between her and her target practice dressed

in the clothes that resembled the one he wore on the night he left her. Her mind went blank. There were so many things to say to him so many things to do. Her childhood

memories came flooding back to her in waves. She didn't know what to think, what to do. Though she may have dreamt of this many times after he left, putting it into

action was a lot more harder. The stress finally built up too much and she passed out.

~LATER~

The pink haired kunoichi awoke while a pounding headache, the stark white ceiling of the hospital was not helping either. She did a double take, _the hospital?! _

_How did I get here?_ no sooner had she thought that did the door slide open and there stood her shishou. She slowly strode towards the ends of her bed. Tsunade crossed

her arms over her chest and stared firmly down at Sakura. No words needed to be exchanged between the two. It was all shown in one expression. One was adorning a

face of disappointment and worry, though mostly disappointment; while the other was that of reflection and regret.

"You're lucky nothing happened this time. You should know by now your limits. Don't be foolish..." and off she went on about how Naruto saved her life and

that she should cherish it more but at the softening of her tone it recaptured her interest in her little rant "…please be more careful next time. You're like a daughter

to me I won't no what to do if you were to suddenly vanish." Sakura lowered her head unable to meet the eyes of mentor. There was an awkward pause between the

two women. With a softer voice, almost a whisper, Tsunade began to speak once more "He's back." with that she turn and left her behind to absorb the information

slowly. _So he's back. What am I going to do…_ With the end of her thoughts she laid back and fell back into a deep slumber as her mind mulled over the thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Much time has passed since his return. Most accepted his return with open arms, just because they heard he had slain that monster known as Orochimaru.

_They're idiots for believing in him. He lied to them once and he's going to betray them once again. _Sakura had been trying to hide from him and avoid their inevitable

meeting. She had been hiding out at her home eating take out and instant food after her fresh supply ran out for days now and she is not willing to put up anymore of it.

Sakura wants a proper meal and no one, not even God, is going to stop her. She wrapped herself up leaving only her arms, shins and eyes visible before heading out.

Sakura made her way to the restaurant quick, quietly and had gone unnoticed. Almost. Sasuke was the only one out of the whole group to notice Sakura's presence

flit by quickly yet elegantly. _Who was that? _Curious he began to formulate a plan. He spoke to the rest of the group who had spent the night with him in celebration of their

reunion.

As Sakura sat down drooling at the prospect of a balanced and delicious meal while pulling away her hood. The bell at the front door to the restaurant rang. A

rather large group of familiar people appeared. Scanning the group realising it was all the childhood friends; Ino, Ten Ten, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata even Neji. They all

there, gathered as though Sasuke never betrayed them, as if he never left. Angrily she pulled the menu higher to hide her face. Pulling her hood back up she signalled to the

waiter to order her meal. As she sat waiting with a glass of clear liquid she began to remember her past with everyone. She tried and tried but everything just became

more blurry nothing made sense, it was as though she was losing everything. The large group burst out with laughter disrupting her thoughts. They were so noisy. In

the past Sakura would have felt left out and yearned to join in with them in hope someone would notice her and befriend her, but now she just wished them to go as far

as possible or at least be considerate to others and quieten up. Looking at them she began to wonder was she really like that when she was with them. An annoying, no-

brained teenager. She tuned out to everything but her thoughts as her food arrived. Without further interruptions Sakura said her thanks, ate, paid and bid the shop

farewell. On the way back home debating whether to go restock on food or rush home filled her thoughts.

Arriving at the fork in the road she turned left towards the shops. The decision was made due to the appealing idea of being able to avoid _that _guy longer. _Get in, get _

_out. Fast. _She kept repeating this in her mind. Convinced herself that that guy was still occupied and that this is her chance to go and get essentials without being caught.

A rush of adrenaline flowed into her veins. For the first time in a while she felt almost like her old self. The exhilarating feel of being involved in this twisted game

of hide and seek between two players where one doesn't even know they are it. A new Sakura began to develop. She had long discarded the hormone driven little girl

known as inner Sakura. This new one enjoyed the thrill of a chase, blood and madness. It grew stronger. It's persuasiveness was matched by none. It's talk made

all the sense she wished for. It understood her, yet there was no warmth but it filled up Sakura's heart better than anything else in these few years that Sasuke had left.

Sakura's true self slumbered deep under this new personality, yet the girl willingly opened her arms to this new…hope. No that was not the right word. It was

something far from hope; at this time in moment thought, to Sakura, it was the only thing willing to understand her, to assist her. How, was another matter. What will her

path become? That is yet to be ascertained.


End file.
